CORPUS CHRISTI - Local U.S. Coast Guard operations could move under one roof at the Corpus Christi International Airport.

City and federal officials are discussing a new facility at the airport that would take up about 23 acres and is estimated to cost between $23 million and $40 million. The project could involve the city hiring a contractor to build a new facility followed by the city leasing the space to the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi, according to one proposal described by City Manager Ron Olson. The facility will be paid for with federal funds.

City Council members have been discussing the proposal behind closed doors and recently gave Olson permission to begin interviewing interested developers for the project. Local Coast Guard operations are split between office space in downtown and Hanger 41 at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi.

For the past decade, the plan has been to consolidate operations under one roof, said Lt. Commander Brendan Evans, a U.S. Coast Guard public affairs officer. The new facility will bring together the prevention department, which includes boat and vessel inspection operations, navigation, and waterway cleanups, and the response department, which involves search and rescue.

"Right now we are one unit but geographically separated, so that makes it kind of difficult," he said. "Administrative-wise, just getting things signed and worked out can be difficult."

Also, the Coast Guard is expected to outgrow Hanger 41 in the next two years, about the time three CASA HC-144 Ocean Sentry jets will arrive to replace the HU25 Falcon jets. The new jets are larger than the current ones and require more space, Evans said.

The U.S. General Services Administration, the federal government's property management arm, is discussing the new facility plans with city officials, Olson said. The project could involve three new buildings, including a hangar to house the Coast Guard's air and water fleet, a maintenance facility and administrative offices.

Though the federal government would pay construction costs, the city likely would be responsible for maintenance while it leases the facility to the Coast Guard.

The proposal comes at a time when the city is facing mounting building maintenance needs for several city facilities in need of roof repairs and upgrades.

"We want to do this in a way that does not create additional burden on the city," Olson said about the proposed Coast Guard facility.

A similar plan to join the two locations at the airport was proposed in 2006.